By Ellen Freilich NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices roseon Wednesday for the first time in a week after data revealedweakness in manufacturing and subdued inflation. More data on the industrial sector and price trends, as wellas on the housing sector and the job market will get investors'attention on Thursday. U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in April,down 0.5 percent. More timely regional data suggested morecontraction could be coming. The New York Fed's "Empire State"general business conditions index reflected contraction in May,contrary to expectations for growth. In addition, the U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday itsseasonally adjusted producer price index fell 0.7 percent lastmonth, the biggest decline since February 2010. That combination of economic weakness and slow inflation,analysts said, suggested that the Federal Reserve could continueits massive easing program for months, if not longer. The Fed is now buying $85 billion per month in Treasuriesand mortgage-backed securities in a bid to boost the U.S.economy and bring down stubborn unemployment. "Today's data add to expectations that there's not going tobe any slowing in central bank stimulus anytime soon," said KimRupert, managing director of global fixed income analysis atAction Economics LLC in San Francisco. Those perceptions could be confirmed or countered by a batchof data due on Thursday. Those reports include the latest weeklycount of new jobless claims, expected to total 330,000, a figurethat would be considered a positive sign for the labor marketand a negative for bonds. April housing starts are expected to total an annualized,seasonally adjusted 0.973 million, according to economistspolled by Reuters. Bond investors also expect another report showing thatinflation remains below the Fed's 2 percent target. The ConsumerPrice Index is estimated to have fallen 0.2 percent in April,translating to a year over year rise of 1.3 percent, accordingto economists polled by Reuters. The core CPI, which excludesmore volatile food and energy items, is expected to be up 0.2percent, translating into a year over year rise of 1.8 percent. Another glimpse of what the manufacturing sector did in thefirst part of May will be provided by the Federal Reserve Bankof Philadelphia's business activity index. The index is thoughtto have registered a narrowly positive reading of 2.4 accordingto economists polled by Reuters.

On Wednesday, prices for 10-year notes rose9/32. Their yields eased to 1.946 percent from 1.977 percentlate on Tuesday. Prices for 30-year bonds climbed 18/32. Theiryields eased to 3.162 percent, from 3.194 percent on Tuesday. Bond investors are trying to gauge when the Fed might scaleback its bond purchases, part of its program of monetaryaccommodation, said Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist atPrudential Fixed Income in Newark, New Jersey, with more than $1trillion in assets under management. "But now that yields have risen this much, we're seeing acertain amount of resistance to taking yields higher," he said. Ten-year Treasury yields have risen about 30 basis pointssince the beginning of the month. Behind the hesitation to push 10-year yields above 2 percentare reports like Wednesday's industrial production figures whichunderscore the continued potential for weakness in the world'sbiggest economy. Another reason for caution is the state of the economyoutside the United States. "Europe is in the midst of a deep recession, Japan is justbeginning an aggressive - and not without risk - experiment tostimulate their economy, and in most of the rest of thedeveloped and emerging market world, growth numbers are comingin below expectations," Tipp noted. The unemployment rate also remains at 7.5 percent, a fullpercentage point above the 6.5 percent that Fed policymakerswant to see. And even that level, policymakers have emphasized,would not necessarily signal the beginning of the end ofmonetary accommodation. With inflation well below the Fed's 2 percent target, thereare few concerns that upward price pressures will hamper growth. "Over the next year at least, inflation is more likely to betoo low rather than too high," said Paul Dales, senior U.S.economist with Capital Economics in Toronto.